


Broken, Not Shattered

by Gallavich4ever



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alec just wants cuddles and love, Angst, Bad Parenting, Child Abuse, Clingy Alec, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Homophobia, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, M/M, Magnus is a good boyfriend, Maryse and Robert are horrible parents, Panic Attacks, Protective Magnus Bane, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, Touch Starved Alec
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:28:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24802348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallavich4ever/pseuds/Gallavich4ever
Summary: When Alec has no place else to go but Magnus’s, the Warlock slowly starts to realize there may have been more abuse dished out to the eldest Lightwood than even he realized.AU set directly after the failed wedding in 1x12.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 59
Kudos: 193





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow okay so. Life’s a bit shitty at the moment and so I felt like I needed to write. So here, have this new nugget of a story I’m working on. This one’s gonna be a rough journey you guys so please be careful. I’ll be adding TWs at the beginning of each chapter so you can feel free to choose whether you’ve got the spoons to deal with my angst-ridden ass. Thanks and enjoy friends!
> 
> TW: Child abuse, panic attacks, & homophobia.

_Alec:_

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood!” The name comes out in a hiss of barely concealed rage as his mother storms straight towards him. And Alec is rather violently thrust back into the reality of the situation. He just kissed Magnus Bane. At his own wedding. In front of everyone.

His mother is going to kill him.

Maryse stares straight at him, eyes boring into his soul. “My office. Now!” 

Magnus, for his part, looks as if he’s about to say something, but Alec shakes his head, already fearing the punishment he knows is going to come from his parents and not wanting it to be any worse than it already will be. “Yes ma’am,” he mutters, eyes downcast as he follows after Maryse’s swift footsteps. He leaves Magnus behind, too terrified of the punishment he’s about to receive to look back. He loves Magnus, but this was a mistake. He never should have kissed him in front of all those people. Now he’s in for it, and he can’t help but tremble at the thought.

After what feels like years, they reach Maryse’s office. The door has barely closed when Maryse strides over to him, hand raised to strike him. Alec expected it, but he still flinches when the hand connects sharply with his face. He barely has any time to recover before she hits him again, and then a third time. And a fourth.

“What in the name of the Angel were you thinking?!” She shrieks, enunciating each word with a slap that feels harder than the previous one. “Kissing a filthy Warlock in front of all of those people? You are a disgrace to the Lightwood name! Do you enjoy making a fool of your father and I? Well? ANSWER me, Alexander!”

He tries, but she just keeps on hitting him again and again, never giving him the chance.

“No, you know what? Don’t. I don’t want to hear any of the excuses you have to give me. I would expect this sort of behavior from Jace, maybe Isabelle, but you?! You were supposed to be the responsible one, Alec! You’re not supposed to be another problem child! I should have known, leaving you unsupervised around that horrible Clary girl. I should’ve realized you’d get dangerous ideas”

Problem child? Is that really what he is? Alec flinches at the implication: he isn’t good enough. He’s bad. Problem child. Unloveable, worthless, nothing special. All words his mother has told him at one point or another. 

“I-I didn’t mean to-I didn’t think-“

“Of course not. You never think,” Maryse sneers. “I provide so much for you, support you, care for you, love you, and this is the thanks I get from you?”

She’s stopped hitting him, for now at least, but Alec feels he would prefer that to the yelling she’s doing now. “I-I’m sorry, mother,” he replied, eyes still staring straight down at his feet.

“Sorry isn’t going to take away the public shame this family will get for the rest of our lives, Alec!” Maryse shouts back coldly. “Do you think we can afford this? We’re already on awful terms with the Clave because of the Circle nonsense. Do you realize our entire family could be deruned for this? You want to live the rest of your pathetic life as a mundane? No?” She let out a harsh laugh as Alec quickly shook his head. “What would your little Warlock think of you if you were just some mundie? Have you thought of that?”

“He-he loves me. He’s said he does-“ Alec pauses, because the look Maryse is giving him is making him truly doubt his own words.

“Love? Who could ever love you?” Maryse scoffs. “You don’t have a clue how many lovers Magnus Bane has had in the past. You’re just another warm body, an experiment or a fun game at most. I would hardly call that love, Alec. You truly are as naive as you look, aren’t you?”

Alec wishes she’d slapped him again instead. He recoils at the words, shrinking into himself. Magnus….doesn’t love him...well of course not! He isn’t good enough for his own mother, let alone someone as gorgeous and experienced and wonderful as Magnus Bane. Tears well in his eyes, and he tries to blink them away before Maryse can see them.

Another harsh slap, and Alec yelps at the unexpected touch, looking up fearfully at Maryse as the tears run down his cheeks.

“Stop crying. Now. By the Angel, you are an absolute disgrace and disappointment to this family. You’re worse than your sister, and she’s pretty terrible.” 

Worse than Izzy...not good enough...Magnus’s plaything...he can’t help the sob that escapes his lips. He tries, he really does, but it comes out anyway as the despair within him grows. Nobody loves him. They can’t. He isn’t worth being loved, no matter how hard he tries to be good.

Maryse, for her part, only frowns sternly down at him. “I want you out of the Institute in an hour. Be grateful that I am even allowing you that much time to pack and say your goodbyes. I don’t want someone like you around my children. I am disowning you, Alec.”

Panic claws at Alec’s chest. Nononono she can’t! He has no place else to go, she has to know that. And Izzy and Jace and Max...they need him! “Mother, mom, no, please! Please I promise I’ll be good from now on, just don’t make me do that, please!” He reaches out, desperately clutching her arm. 

She rips it out of his pleading grasp, slapping him hard across the face once more. “Don’t you touch me! I don’t want a faggot’s hands anywhere on me or near my Institute. Now pack and get the hell out of my home.”

That word is ultimately what does it. With a panicked whimper, Alec rushes from the room, and he runs without truly realizing which direction he’s going, or who he passes along the way. He can’t breathe. He can’t breathe and no one loves him and he doesn’t have a home now and-

WHAM!

Without even realizing it, he runs straight into Magnus.

~~~

_Magnus:_

Magnus has to admit that he didn’t enjoy watching Alec leave with Maryse. Still, against all odds, he’d resisted the urge to follow them, waiting outside the chapel in the hallway instead. It feels like hours, but it’s probably really only a few minutes when he sees Alec again.

He watches in surprise as his boyfriend barrels down the hallway towards him, and it’s only when Alec is within a few feet of him that Magnus realizes his lover is crying. Sobbing, in fact. He’s also hyperventilating, but Magnus doesn’t get the chance to do much of anything before Alec has slammed into his body. Unprepared, Magnus has the breath knocked out of him. However, he can’t find it in him to care too much right now. Not when Alec is still so upset.

Without thinking twice, his arms wrap gently around Alec’s waist, pulling him close and rubbing small, soothing circles into his back as he lets out a series of quiet ‘shhh’s in an attempt to comfort.

“My sweet, darling Alexander,” he murmurs, knowing from prior experience with Alec’s panic attacks that praise and a soft tone does wonders on the man. “It’s alright. You’re safe with me now, darling.” He doesn’t bother asking what’s wrong, not yet, when Alec is still so raw and skittish. Besides, he already has something of an idea as to the cause of this particular panic attack.

Alec clings to him like a life line, so desperate to be impossibly closer, to have those soft, loving touches that Magnus was positive he rarely got from his own parents. He holds him close, wanting to make a portal back to the loft but not wanting to let go of his love, not even for a second. 

Still, he knows Alec will be embarrassed enough when he comes back to himself, so for the sake of Alec’s own comfort, Magnus poses the question.

“Darling, can I make a quick portal home? The second we go through it and are back at my loft, you’ll be in my arms again. I promise.”

Alec, still in a heightened state but of a sound enough mind to remember he’s still in the Institute, barely manages a quick nod. He lets out a cry like a wounded animal the second Magnus moves away, and Magnus coos out even more shushing sounds as he works as quickly as he can.

“I know darling, I know,” he murmurs. And then he’s holding Alec again and they’re stepping through the portal and Alec is clinging to him like a sad rejected koala once more. 

Under literally any other circumstances Magnus would have found Alec’s clinginess adorable. In this case however, he only finds it extraordinarily sad. 

He guides Alec to the couch, watching sadly as the other man practically crawls into his lap, still sobbing. “Sorry…’m sorry…”

“Don’t you dare apologize, darling,” Magnus shushes him. “I’ve told you before that you can cling to me all you like. I love you. You have to know that, Alexander.”

Alec lets out another heartwrenching sob, and Magnus’s lips thin. “What did she try to tell you about me?” He asks, eyes narrowing dangerously at the thought of Alec having to face Maryse on his own. He should’ve gone with him. Should’ve insisted-

“...She said you don’t love me...that I’m just a fun game for you….” Alec looks up, and the anguished expression on his face is enough to make Magnus kiss him with all the love and passion he has for Alec. He feels Alec’s tears falling on his face, and goes to work kissing each and every tear away. 

“You could never be a game to me, darling. If a warm body was all I wanted, there are plenty of strip clubs not even two blocks away from my apartment. I wouldn’t have gone to try and stop your wedding today if I didn’t love you. I don’t bother going through that much trouble for just anyone. You’re special, Alexander. You mean everything to me and I love you so incredibly much.”

The words seem to have some effect, as Alec’s tension eases significantly as he goes back to snuggling the Warlock. “I’m so-“

“If you say sorry again I will be forced to kiss you,” Magnus warns, hoping the teasing will make him smile like it normally does.

Instead Alec just goes quiet, still gripping Magnus tightly. Too tightly to be calm enough for jokes and teasing.

“What else did she say?” He asks, having a feeling there’s more than Alec is telling him. Of course, there usually is, because Alec is frustratingly good at keeping secrets he probably shouldn’t.

“She...she disowned me,” Alec gulps, and Magnus starts to see red, even as his boyfriend continues. “She said I had an hour to pack, a-and that I’m not allowed to ever see Jace and Isabelle ever again-“

“Like hell you won’t,” Magnus replies back with a scowl. “They’re welcome to visit you here.”

“He-here?” Alec stares up in confusion, and Magnus raises an eyebrow.

“Well, you didn’t think I was going to just leave you to the streets, did you, Alexander?” It occurs to him, as Alec stares back speechlessly at him, that the other man had indeed believed that. Magnus isn’t sure whether to groan or facepalm. He really needs to help Alec work on his self-worth and confidence. 

“Alexander, of course you can stay here,” he says, trying not to sigh at the hopeful look on Alec’s face. He shouldn’t look so hopeful about someone treating him like a decent human being. What other things has that vile woman done to him behind closed doors that Magnus doesn’t know about?

“Th-thank you Magnus,” Alec stammers out, curling up into Magnus’s arms once more.

“Don’t thank me, darling, it’s a pleasure to have you move in with me, really.”

And Alec might not fully be okay, but in that one moment, with Magnus saying these things to him, he feels like he may just be starting to believe it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus gets an unexpected visit, and even more unexpected news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I just wanna say thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter. I love being able to have these conversations with you in the comments so never be afraid to say something. I may not have all the answers but I’m here to support you and offer all the love 😊 Enjoy Chapter 2!
> 
> TW: mild panic attack & references to self harm

Alec stays close that whole day, and Magnus is only too happy to hold the younger man in his arms if it puts a smile on his face, which it does, at least somewhat. But Magnus can tell he’s still off, more so than usual, so they take it easy. They have a few drinks, Magnus makes popcorn so they can watch movies, and eventually it’s time for bed. Here too, Alec is just as clingy, as if he expects Magnus to vanish from his grasp at any second. When the two have settled in bed, Alec rests his head on Magnus’s chest, and eventually falls asleep. It’s Magnus who’s having trouble.

He spends most of the night tossing and turning, trying not to imagine just how badly the Lightwood parents have screwed with his boyfriend’s head and self-confidence. He doesn’t get all that much sleep that night, his mind and body constantly on edge. He’s almost thrilled when he hears a loud, insistent knock on his front door at five in the morning, until he realizes what hour it is.

Eyes narrowing, Magnus gently untangles himself from Alec and stalks into the living room of his penthouse apartment. Who the hell would bother disturbing him at five AM on a Saturday?

“This had better be impor-oh. Good morning Isabe-“

“Where is my brother? Is he okay??” Isabelle shoves past him, a fierce look in her eyes as she storms into the apartment. 

“He’s fine. Asleep at the moment. You know, because it’s five in the morning,” Magnus retorts back with a light scowl.

“I can’t believe he lied to me!” Isabelle hisses, pacing the room as another face appears around the corner of the doorway. 

“Uh..sorry for coming uninvited...We were worried,” Jace murmurs, and because he looks genuinely apologetic, Magnus relents with a sigh. 

“Make yourselves at home. What do you mean ‘lied?’” He asks, because now he’s worried. Do Isabelle and Jace not know the things Maryse has said to Alec? And what else has she done behind closed doors that the siblings don’t know about?

“He texted me yesterday,” Isabelle replies, still fuming as she paces the room like a caged animal. “He told me he would spend the night at your place and be back tomorrow. Well, come to find out we get an early morning mission. So Jace goes to Alec’s room to wake him up, and-“

“She threw out everything. Even his deodorant. His clothes, little trinkets, all of it. It’s like he never existed,” Jace gazes sadly at Magnus, who can feel his blood beginning to boil again.

“She didn’t,” Magnus shakes his head, a deep frown on his face now.

“Oh, you think that’s the worst part? No way!” Isabelle’s voice is getting louder by the second. Magnus wants to tell her to keep it to a dull roar, because whatever she’s about to say, he doesn’t think it’s a great idea for Alec to be woken up hearing it. He can’t get a word in edgewise though, because Isabelle just keeps talking.

“We both go up to mom’s office, and I ask her: ‘Where’s Alec?’ And you know what she says to me? She looks straight into my eyes and just says ‘Alec who?’ Alec who?!? What the fuck does that mean? You know who Alec is, bitch! He’s your fucking son!”

“Anyway,” Jace cuts in, seeing how shocked and angry Magnus looks. “We got worried, obviously. I called but he didn’t answer, which I guess you’re right, Magnus. It’s way too early for him to be awake, but...we just weren’t really thinking clearly. And we know how bad he is at telling people things so-“

“I’m so glad he’s okay,” Isabelle has finally stopped pacing, tears in her eyes. “We thought...we thought he was on the streets somewhere. But Jace...thank the Angel Jace thought to come here…”

Magnus feels bad. He hadn’t considered how worried the siblings would be about their older brother. “I apologize. I should’ve called or sent a Fire Message.” Of course Alec wouldn’t have told them, stubborn, beautiful boy that he is.

“Did...did she really say that?” The quiet voice has Magnus spinning around. Alec is standing in the hall, looking forlorn and lost and surprisingly small.

“Alec!” Isabelle rushes towards him, throwing her arms tightly around her brother in what seems to Magnus to be quite a painful embrace.

“Izzy, let him breathe, please?” Jace calls, but he too looks relieved as he throws an arm around Alec in a sign of clear brotherly affection. “Alec. You okay?” He asks.

Predictably, Alec nods, and Magnus fights the urge to roll his eyes. 

“Like hell you are!” Izzy shrieks, startling even Magnus. “What the hell, Alec! Why didn’t you tell us anything? You made us think you were just spending the night with Magnus when in reality you were fucking kicked out of the Institute! Do you know how worried Jace and I were?” She gives Alec a light shove to the chest before gripping onto him again in a tight embrace. “Don’t you EVER scare me like that again!”

Magnus notices how panicked Alec looks, and immediately he steps in. “Isabelle,” he calls, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. “I think this is all a bit much for five AM. Why don’t you and Jace sit? Darling, come with me?” He holds out a hand to Alec, feeling relieved when Isabelle finally lets go of him and Alec takes Magnus’s hand instead.

“We’ll be back,” Magnus says, and is about to turn to walk back to the bedroom when Jace steps to his side.

“I know about the panic attacks,” he whispers quietly enough so that only Magnus and Alec can hear. “It helps when I’m there to get him through it, if you don’t mind.”

Magnus glances towards Alec, who immediately nods, and the three instantly make their way to the bedroom.

~~~

“How much do you and Izzy actually know?” Magnus asks as he settles into the bed with Alec in his arms.

“Izzy doesn’t know anything, besides what everyone else in the family knows, which is that our parents are shitty people,” Jace replies, and pulls out his stele. “Alec, give me your arm, please?”

“What are you doing?” Magnus asks, watching as Alec dutifully holds out his arm to his Parabatai.

“Drawing the Fortitude and Perseverance runes. They’ve helped before,” Jace explains with a small shrug before he sets to work on drawing the aforementioned runes.

Magnus notices the change instantly. It isn’t that Alec seems less upset, but more that he seems to look as if he can handle it better.

“Thanks Jace,” Alec mutters.

“You should have done them yourself when this all happened, or called and asked me to help you,” Jace replies, a stern look on his face. “Why didn’t you?”

“I….just...I thought maybe this time I really did deserve the pain…” the way Alec says it makes Magnus’s heart break, and Jace’s lips thin.

“And what did I say the last time you said bullshit like that?” Jace asks. Magnus can’t help but marvel at the blonde’s resolve. They’ve clearly done this before.

“To let you know,” Alec mutters again, eyes downcast.

“You promised, Alec. When I said you couldn’t just cut yourself open anymore that wasn’t an open invitation to find other ways to hurt yourself.”

Magnus’s jaw drops in horror, and Alec tenses, glaring accusingly at Jace.

“I told you _never_ to mention that in front of anyone!” There’s an angry look on Alec’s face.

“You haven’t told him yet?” Jace stares between Alec and Magnus, shocked. “How much has he actually told you?” 

“Just...just that Maryse yells at him a lot,” Magnus replies, face still sheet white as Jace shakes his head. 

“By the Angel, Alec! You need to tell him.”

“It’s nothing, okay?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop bullshitting with me, Alec? I’m your Parabatai! I know basically everything. So stop doing that to me when I’m just trying to help!”

“IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Alec shouts, and again, Magnus is surprised. “It’s NONE of your business and now you’ve told the ONE PERSON who actually wants me around! Thanks for telling him I’m basically a HUGE FUCKING FREAK!” And before Magnus can stop him, Alec is storming out of the room and the apartment.

“Alec! ALEC!” Jace races after him. “Where the hell are you going?”

“AWAY FROM YOU!” Alec shouts back, letting the apartment door slam shut on his way out.

“Alexander-!”

“It’s fine, Magnus. Just let him go blow off some steam for a minute,” Jace tries to stop him, and Magnus yanks his arm away.

“He needs to know I don’t think of him that way though-“

“He will, just-Magnus! Look at me for a second,” Jace stands one front of him, blocking him from exiting out that same door. “Look, I know Alec. When he gets like this, he just wants to stab a demon or hit a punching bag or go for a jog. It...helps him think more clearly, I think. Plus. He’s pissed at me, not you, so he’ll come back here eventually.”

“ _Eventually??”_ Magnus asks, the look of horror back on his face.

“Meaning, in a few hours,” Jace sighs, pushing Magnus towards the couch, where Isabelle has been watching the exchange with wide eyes. “Look, just sit down. There’s a lot I need to talk to you about...Izzy too, I think. It’s time she knew. I mean, she’s his sister after all.”

Magnus looks towards the door, the couch, and back again. He could go and chase after Alec. It’s what he _wants_ to do. But he knows from experience that Jace is right about Alec. The man is abhorrent at processing his own emotions calmly or with other people, mostly. And, although Magnus believes that he may be starting to become the exception, he doesn’t fully have Alec’s trust yet. It’s unfortunate, but understandable. They’ve just started dating after all.

So, with a sigh, Magnus sinks into the couch, gazing in resignation at Jace. “Alright, Golden Boy. You’d better start talking.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus finds out what’s really going on at the New York Institute. And he’s not at all pleased with what he learns.
> 
> OR
> 
> The one where Maryse gets what’s coming to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew wow. It’s amazing how much this story is inspired by my own mommy issues. Except I don’t have a Magnus to snuggle with me 😅 Does anyone have a Magnus I can borrow on weekends? Would love that. 12/10. Alright enjoy!
> 
> TW: self-harm references, references to child sexual and physical abuse, homophobic slurs, victim shaming, Maryse being an ABHORRENT PARENT (okay that’s not really a trigger warning but I thought I’d add it anyway-

There’s a few moments of silence, in which Magnus desperately fights not to tell Jace to just spit everything out already. Finally, the blonde lets out a sigh, looking up at both him and Izzy, who’s right next to him looking equally as impatient. 

“Alec’s been self-harming ever since he was eight. It started with him just not using an Iratze to heal himself, and then it became purposely finding ways to injure himself in training. That became actually cutting himself. As you can imagine, it’s been hell getting him to stop. His record for being clean is about a week.”

Magnus doesn’t know what to say, or how to react, especially compared to Izzy, who has tears running down her face again. She doesn’t yell out or otherwise cause a scene, but she does reach out to grip Magnus’s hand tightly. Whether to comfort herself or reassure him, he isn’t quite sure. 

“Why?” Is the only thing Magnus can say in response to what he’s just heard.

“Mom...she always beat him. Since he was a little kid...but that’s not why he started self harming. Not at first, anyway,” Jace looks uncomfortable, and Magnus braces himself for whatever fresh horrors the blonde is about to tell him.

“Magnus...Izzy…Alec has been molested since the age of eight.”

Magnus is glad he wasn’t holding a glass, because he surely would have dropped it at the revelation. 

“No way!” Isabelle does actually shout this time. “No _fucking_ way! I would’ve known! I’m his sister! How do you know this shit anyway, Jace? You weren’t even there until Alec was twelve!”

“Because I saw it happen, Izzy! I tried to tell Maryse about Ro-the person who did it. But she wouldn’t listen. I was _twelve_ when it happened. What the hell was I supposed to do? Where was I supposed to go? Who could I even tell?” There are tears in Jace’s eyes, but Magnus couldn’t care less. Isabelle may not have heard the slip up. But Magnus certainly did.

“You’re telling me Robert Lightwood raped his own son?” He asks, voice low and cold as sparks of magic shoot out from his hands.

“I-I never said it was-“

“You almost said his name. You slipped,” Magnus says, not caring that Izzy has gone pale white or that Jace looks panicked. Someone hurt _his_ Alec. Someone who was supposed to protect him and care for and love him. “You said you told Maryse?”

“Yeah...I did,” Jace’s voice goes quiet. “She was pissed...but not at Robert. I think she knew, or at least suspected, even back then that Alec was gay. She...she thought he tried to seduce her husband. Alec got beat really fucking hard for it. And I felt every lash she gave him. Every single one.”

~~~

_”How DARE you?!” Maryse was angrier than Jace had ever seen her. “How DARE you seduce MY husband?!”_

_“Mom! No! It wasn’t like that-“ Jace tried to explain, to stick up for his shivering Parabatai. He could feel Alec’s fear and all the turmoil in his mind. He had to make Maryse see-_

_“Now another WORD from you Jace!” Maryse growled, and pointed towards the door. “Upstairs, NOW! I don’t want to hear anything about this EVER again, do you understand, Jace?”_

_“Y-Yes, but-“_

_“GET OUT!”_

_Jace shouldn’t have run, but he was only twelve and he didn’t know what else to do. He gave Alec an apologetic look, hoping that Alec realized that Jace would be there for emotional support, if not physically present._

_“As for YOU, Alexander, one hundred lashes with the cane should do the trick-“_

_And, feeling more sick than he ever had in his entire life, Jace turned away from the room, and ran._

~~~

“You should have told me,” Isabelle looks angry now, shaking her head fiercely at Jace. “You should have _told_ me!”

“What the hell, Iz? You were the same age as me!” Jace scoffs, shaking his own head as he runs lithe fingers through his blonde hair. “What would you have done differently?”

“I don’t know...I just...I wish I’d known so I could help him. I-I knew he and mom had some problems but I just thought it was because she’s so...you know, strict. I never thought it was this bad.”

“I’m going to kill them both,” Magnus’s fists are clenched, little sparks still escaping every now and then as he fights to keep control over his magic. It has been a long time since he lost control.

“No, man, don’t,” Jace shakes his head. “Being in Shadowhunter prison...or dead...isn’t going to help Alec. Like, at all.”

“They hurt the man I love, Jace. Your brother. Your Parabatai. They _hurt_ him. I will never forgive them for what they did to Alec. Never. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get out of this apartment before my magic explodes and injures you both,” Magnus rises from the couch, determination locked in his cold gaze, normally so warm and soft towards Alec and those he loves and cares for. “Don’t leave Alexander alone if he comes back,” is the only other thing he says before sweeping out of the apartment.

~~~

The energy radiating off the Warlock is electric. Even the Mundanes steer clear of Magnus Bane as he strides with purpose towards the Institute. He fires off a spell so powerful that the front door goes crashing down, and storms straight into the building.

“Where are Maryse and Robert Lightwood?!” He asks, sparks coming out more forcefully now, so much so that the other Shadowhunters don’t dare try to hold him back or attack him.

“Who’s asking?” The woman herself makes her way into the entryway, her cold eyes glaring straight back at him.

“You. Are. A. Fucking. _Monster._ ” Magnus hisses, pressing himself so close to her that his nose is pressing against hers. “You and your husband both.”

“You came all the way here just to tell me that, Warlock?” Maryse asks, raising an eyebrow coolly. “Security, please escort Mr. Bane off my property.”

“If they or you or anyone else in this Institute lays one hand on me, you will deeply regret that choice,” Magnus’s words are a clear warning, and Maryse begins to feel the first prickles of fear running through her spine. She won’t show it though. Not to some filthy Downworlder.

“Are you threatening me, Warlock?” she asks with disdain. “I could easily have you imprisoned for that, you know.”

“Oh, Maryse, I’d love to see you try,” Magnus replies. 

The lights begin to flicker, a pure testament to just how powerful the High Warlock of Brooklyn truly is. 

“What do you want, Bane?” Maryse asks, still trying to play cool and pretend she isn’t terrified of the damage he could do to her.

“Oh, please, don’t pretend you haven’t realized,” Magnus growls back.

“I’m afraid I don’t. I don’t know what it is you Warlocks are capable of, but Shadowhunters can’t read minds, and have no interest in learning.”

“Your pathetic excuse of a husband raped your son, and you chose to beat Alexander instead of leaving the man in prison to rot.”

“I warned him things like that would happen to little faggots like him-“

The chandelier tears itself from the ceiling, and Maryse has to rely on her Shadowhunter instincts to get out of the way in time. Immediately Shadowhunters attempt to surround Magnus. Not that Magnus realizes. He only has eyes for Maryse right now. And on the word that she’s just used against her own son.

_Faggot._

And that’s when Magnus’s magic explodes.


End file.
